United States: Nearly two years after signing paperwork aiming to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat in Nevada, Jim Hindle thanked everyone assembled in the commission chambers of a historic Nevada boomtown and urged them to be patient with him while he learned how to manage elections in rural Storey County.
2022 Midterms Unveiled
As the 2022 midterm elections neared, Hindle was yet another replacement in a revolving door of county election officials across Nevada. He had deposed the temporary clerk, who had taken over when the previous clerk quit.
However, Hindle’s stay in the predominantly Republican County is part of a nationwide pattern in which fake electors have power over elections as approaching 2024.
He is one of six Republicans accused by Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford this month for their alleged actions in seeking to reverse the election outcome in the battleground state, which Democrat Joe Biden won by more than 33,000 votes against Republican rival Donald Trump.
According to transcripts of evidence before the US House committee that examined the Capitol incident on January 6, 2021, Hindle and the others, who are due to be arraigned Monday, directly coordinated with Trump’s staff.
Despite the allegations, Hindle told The Associated Press that he will continue to manage local elections. However, he declined to elaborate. Reportedly, fake electors are also being used in the 2024 election in Wisconsin, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.
Fake Electors Resilience: Defying Allegations in 2024
Bob Spindell is on the list despite Democratic efforts to remove him from Wisconsin’s nonpartisan election commission. Last Friday, the Republican parliamentary leader who appointed Spindell stated that he will not retract the appointment, calling the fake elector plan a “failed legal strategy” and “not a sinister plot to overturn an election.”
Spindell and the fake Wisconsin electors reached an agreement last month, admitting that their acts were “part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results.”
In Arizona, fake electors Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern are strong Republican legislators. The Senate Elections Committee is chaired by Hoffman, while the Judiciary Committee is chaired by Kern. The Arizona attorney general is looking into the involvement of fake voters; no one has been prosecuted.
Because of his position, Hoffman is the gatekeeper for practically all election-related legislation under discussion. This has grown especially controversial in Western swing states, where Republicans have been aggressive in attempting to overturn or call into question Democratic victories.
In 2022, the FBI interrogated Sam DeMarco, a member of Allegheny County’s three-person election board. Despite the subpoenas filed on DeMarco and the other GOP electors in that state, they have faced no legal ramifications for categorizing their electoral votes as “conditional” if Trump won in court. DeMarco has frequently criticized Trump’s influence in the state party.
Michigan is a rare case of a fake elector losing power due to allegations. Shelby Township Clerk Stan Grot was disqualified from running any elections in July after the state attorney general filed criminal charges against him and 15 other Republicans for their involvement as fake electors.
Storey County’s 3,750 active registered voters represent a fraction of the state’s electorate in Nevada. Even if Hindle and others continue to serve as election officials and lawmakers, Wendy Weiser, director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Democracy Program, believed that state election officials and state, along with federal courts, could place balances on their authority.
The office of Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, which oversees elections throughout the state, did not reply to concerns about how the indictment may influence Hindle’s position in elections.
Nevada GOP’s Dual Elections Chaos
However, Hindle’s impact extended beyond the county boundary. He is one of three imposters involved in the state GOP’s planning of a party-run caucus in early February, just days after the state-run presidential primary. The Nevada Republican Party has come under fire for confusing voters with the dual elections and for enacting regulations that many believe favor Trump over other Republican candidates.
When asked if the indictment would impact members’ ability to lead the caucus, the Nevada GOP remained silent.
One of the arrested false electors, Nevada Republican Chairman Michael McDonald, has stated that the state party is skipping the primary since the Democratic-controlled Legislature did not accept the Republican governor’s requests for a voter ID requirement and other measures.
Several of Nevada’s fake electors attended a Trump event in Reno on Sunday when the former president personally praised three (3) of them, including Hindle and McDonald, while claiming they were mistreated. He didn’t say anything about the precise charges.
McDonald presented Trump to the gathering during the rally, asking them to advocate for and vote for Trump in the party-run caucus. He completed his address with the same vow he made before his indictment in an October rally.
“You give us a fair election, I’ll give you the next president of the United States — Donald J Trump,” he said.